Now there was the pudding to make. She was getting all done early, because she was going to meet Mrs. Welles; but the pudding would not be injured by standing half an hour before it went into the water, which it should do at three o’clock.
She had a pound and a half of very fine, juicy round steak. This she cut into pieces an inch or so square, rejecting all gristle and skin, but using a very little of the fat. This meat she seasoned highly with pepper and salt, stirring it up among the pieces. Then she made a suet crust (see recipe, [Chapter XIII].) and greased very well a quart bowl. When the crust was rolled to an even half inch thick, she laid the sheet in the bowl, pressing it gently all round. Into this she put the meat, and, when the bowl was full, poured in a half cup of water; then she gathered up the overlapping paste, and pinched it together to form a cover, leaving no cracks through which the gravy could get out. A floured cloth was now put over the pudding, and a string passed twice round the flaring parts and tied securely. The four ends of the cloth were brought over the top and tied. The pudding could be lifted by these knotted ends as if it were a basket or bundle.
Marta had now done washing and cleared up, and was able to attend to Molly’s directions.
“Marta, I shall see this pudding in the pot before I go to the train, and watch it come to the boiling-point quickly again; but you must remember it must never cease boiling, or it will be heavy. When you go to take it up, remove the cloth and string; then run a thin knife round close to the bowl, and turn it out gently on a hot dish, trying not to break the pudding in doing so.”
Molly had the water on in a pot, that it might be ready boiling by three; and, although she had warned Marta to keep it boiling, she did not mean to trust entirely to her for it, but would come herself to look at it every half hour or so.
Early in the morning the eggs had come, and Molly had waiting ready a keg half filled with lime-water, made by dissolving one pound of quicklime in a gallon of water, allowed to stand all day and then poured clear from the sediment. The sediment was rather more than the mere sprinkling it should have been, and she feared it might be too strong, and added more water and again let it settle, when it nearly all dissolved; the rule being to put in as much lime as will just dissolve, leaving only sediment enough to show that this point is reached. She then very carefully put in the eggs, washing every soiled one, and warned Marta never to stir them, and, when taking them out, to be very careful, as one broken or cracked would spoil the whole; if this occurs, fresh lime-water must be used.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
TOWN VERSUS COUNTRY—THE SERVANT QUESTION.
It was with a heart full of happy content that Molly started to meet Mrs. Welles, and when the train slowed into the depot, she saw a well-known head, with bright chestnut hair, leaning out of the window.